June i, 1895. | THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
Proposed by the chairman, seconded by Mr. Andrew, 
that a vote of thanks be given to Mr. Porter, Mr. 
Mitchell, and the Ceylon and London staff for theij 
efficient working of the company's properties and busi- 
ness. Proposed by ~Slv. Durham, seconded by Mr. Moss 
that in accordance with Article No. SS, in the Arti- 
cles of Association, a bonus of t'100 be given to the 
directors to be divided amongst themselves as they 
may think fit. Proposed by Mr. Vfonnel, seconded 
by Mr. Durham, that a vote of thanks be and is 
hereby given to the chairman and directors; and, 
finally, Mr. Howard having proposed that a vote of 
thanks should be given to the chairman for his con- 
duct of the day's proceedings, the latter gentleman 
made a suitable reply and the meeting came to a 
conclusion. — //. & eMail. 
FOREST ADMINISTRATION IN THE 
MADRAS PRESIDENCY. 
The Progress Report of Forest Administration 
in the Madras Presidency tor the year ended 
the 3Qth June 18S4, is a bulky volume covering, 
with appendices, 98 pages of foolscap, closely 
printed. The Report proper extends over 38 
pages, and deals comprehensively with a variety 
of subjects closely connected with Forests and 
their Conservancy: and distinct from the Report 
and its Appendices is the "Order" of the Oovern- 
ment covering eight pages of criticism. This 
document may be regarded as a summary, to a 
great extent, of the Report) dealing as it does 
with its more salient features, and conveying 
approval or disapproval of the work undertaken 
and recorded. The course of procedure seems to 
he for the senior Conservator of the Presidency 
to draw up the Report and to submit it to the 
Board of hand Kcvenue, whose duty it is to 
forward it to the Secretary to the Government, 
Revenue Department, by whom, with the Order 
ol the Government, it has to be finally submitted 
to the Covcrnment of India, Revenue and Agri- 
cultural Department. Whether there results any 
public advantage, commensurate with the labour 
and expense involved in the study of such an 
elaborate Report as that before us, with its 
many Appendices, by so many Departments, 
may be doubted; but the "Order" of the Presi- 
dency Government certainly suggests pretty 
careful study and digestion of the Report in 
all its detaiis ; while there is the further pros- 
pect held out of more careful review in the 
future, of all technical subjects by a professional 
officer to be specially appointed. 
The late appearance of the Report was to us 
a matter of surprise; and we find from the 
Resolution of the Board of Revenue, that the 
Renort should have reached its hands much 
earlier th n it did, but there was ".inordinate dsjay" 
on the part of the Collector ol Madura in sending 
in statistical returns. Complete 'information was , 
not sent to the Hoard before the 7th November; | 
and thus the He-port, Which should have been 1 
before the Covcrnment on the loth November at j 
latest, did not reach its bauds till the 8th De- 
oemher, a. id was not dealt with by it. till the j 
22nd January. The ground covered by tie' He- 
port is, however, most extensive ; and it accuracy 
1 1 is been studied in all its parts, as seems to have 
been the case, judging fjroni the several reminders 
and telegrams said to have been addressed to .the 
dilatory Collector of Madura, and from the Faol 
that inaccurate returns had l" lie returned anil 
revised returns called lor, it is no wonder (bar 
these has been some delay. Some id >a may be 
formed of the magnitude of the operations onro- 
liided from '-'' eiream ^uiee- that ill- 1 - v d 
lands of the Presidency aggregate 18,010 square 
miles. That was the ascertained extent up to 
30th June last, after the addition of new areas 
luring the year, and the exclusion of old areas, leav- 
ing a net increase of 823 miles. Of this vast ex- 
tent — about three-fourths of the area of the whole 
of Ceylon — the reserved forests amount to ]i).78(i 
square miles, the balance being reserved lands 
which remain to be dealt with ; and the work of 
settlement is progressing, while further reserva- 
tions too are in progress. The percentage of tin- 
area already reserved, to the total area at tin- 
disposal of the Government is 34 - 7, and the maxi- 
mum area that will be reserved is calculated at 
22,387 square miles or 431 of all the Crown lands. 
The work of settlement is delayed by the lack 
of surveys and by the paucity of .subordinate 
officers. The application of the suggested remedy 
of training Forest Officers as Surveyors, in order 
to overcome the first difficulty, is hindered by the 
second difficulty; and e\ cry effort is being made 
to overcome the latter, notwitnstanding that the 
unwillingness to add to establishments at a 
time when exchange threatens a deficit, is in the 
way. We do not find details of the exact strength 
of the establishment; but forthe work of Forest 
settlement four special Officers had to be appointed, 
to supplement the labours of the Revenue Divi- 
sional Officers numbering 10. The cost of estab- 
lishments for t he year was R686.67J, an increase 
of about R34.000 on that of the previous year, 
mainly caused by the return of senior Officers 
from furlough, the promotion of juniors, the ar- 
rival of four new Assistant Conservators from 
Europe, and the payment of exchange compensa 
tion allowance. The expenditure on Conservancy 
and works amounted to rather more than that on 
establishments, raising the total to R 1,308, 41 1 ; 
but with a revenue of Rl,943,71o, the financial 
results for the year must be considered, satis- 
factory, the net gain being over 5f lakhs of rupees. 
Among the causes which contributed to the 
increase of revenue were some which the local 
Government would do well to note: (1) the sup- 
ply of sleepers to the East Coast Railway ; (2) 
the development of departmental operations and 
the expansion of the grazing revenue ; (3) the 
larger demand for fuel from the Railway and for 
bamboos required for sugar plantations ; (4) improv- 
ed demand and better sales. The deficits which we 
have had to record Ceylon in, year after year, in 
the operations of the Forest Department have 
probably been due to the failure to utilize to 
rhe full the produce of our Forests. We cannot 
pretend to judge to what extent this may be 
traceable to deficiencies in the Forest Department 
and to what extent to mistakes in other Depart- 
ments with which there has been admitted 
friction, we deal only with the fact, and in 
illustration of it, we need only refer to Mr. 
Waring's Report, issued a few' weeks ago on 
Railway Extension to the North, in which he 
estimates for creosoted sleepers from the Baltic 
while the trace runs through gigantic, if not 
primeval, forests whose timbers are expected to 
form a not unimportant part of the traffic on 
the projected line ! We are aware that experi- 
ments nave been made with local sleepers and 
they have been pronounced a failure ; but some 
at least of the woods should never have been 
even tried, being notoriously unlit for any work 
necessitating contact with the earth. Perhaps it 
is too much to expect any revenue from graz- 
ing from a people whose delight seems to be to lei 
their stock find their own food any way. 01 pre 
i • ably iii feed them on their neighbours' lands, 
